Brian WestoverAcer Aspire Switch 10The Acer Aspire Switch 10 is a detachable Windows tablet that offers a mix of new and exciting features, and while it's not perfect, it's worth a look for its flexibility.

The Acer Aspire Switch 10 is a detachable Windows tablet that offers a mix of new and exciting features, and while it's not perfect, it's worth a look for its flexibility.

The Acer Aspire Switch 10 is the latest in a new breed of detachable Windows tablets, a category of small slates paired with docking keyboards to offer both the mobility of a tablet and the capability and comfort of a laptop. With a sleek-looking design and a magnetic multimode hinge, the Aspire Switch 10 is worth a look if you want on-the-go Windows capability.

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Design The Switch 10 is Acer's latest attempt at the 2-in-1 device, a tablet with a detachable keyboard dock, giving you a laptop-style experience, similar to that seen on the Editors' Choice Asus Transformer Book T100TA (64GB). Unlike that system, however, the Switch 10 has a new magnetic latch and hinge that allows the tablet to be attached in one of two orientations, allowing four different use modes, much like the multimode designs seen on the Lenovo Yoga 2 11 convertible laptop or the business-focused Lenovo ThinkPad Helix, another detachable tablet. The four modes include the traditional Notebook mode, Tablet mode (either with the tablet detached or backed by the closed keyboard), Tent mode, and Display mode.

The tablet itself measures 0.4 by 10.3 by 7 inches (HWD) and weighs an easily portable 1.3 pounds. The back is covered in aluminum, with a gray finish and a crisscrossing brushstroke that looks quite nice. With a 10.1-inch screen covered in Gorilla Glass 3, the 1,366-by-768 resolution In-Plane Switching (IPS) display looks alright (if a bit low-res) and offers five-point touch. Just above the display is a Webcam with 1,920-by-1,080-resolution image capture—yes, the webcam captures images at a resolution higher than the display—but while it works well for Skype or Google Hangouts, the camera doesn't handle bright light very well. There is no rear-facing camera, so you probably shouldn't take it with you to museums or concerts.

When paired with the docking keyboard, the Switch 10 weighs 2.6 pounds, and measures 0.9 inch thick when closed. The keyboard is slightly smaller than full-size, and feels a little cramped, but the keys are comfortable and offer a smooth typing experience. The keyboard's clickpad measures 3.58 inches across, which actually feels comfortably wide, compared with the crowded keyboard, and the integrated right and left buttons click smoothly.

Acer's new hinge and latch design is called Snap, for the way the tablet snaps into place. The hinge has two plastic tabs to guide the tablet into place and a powerful magnet in the hinge that holds the tablet firmly when docked. The docking hinge is great when it works, with the magnetic latch holding firm enough to lift the tablet and keyboard together when picking up the tablet, but you can still easily remove the tablet by gently pulling the two halves apart. Unfortunately, the magnetic pull of the latch is strong enough to pull on the tablet before the guiding tabs are properly positioned, frequently leading to a misaligned tablet.

There's also the issue of weight. As with many docking tablets, the Aspire Switch 10 is the heaviest part of the device, housing all of the components. In Notebook mode, the device is top-heavy, and always feels like it may tip over. Other devices correct for this with either a weighted keyboard or a secondary battery. The Switch 10 has neither.

Features Nearly all of the Aspire Switch 10's ports and connections reside on the tablet itself. On the right edge of the system you'll find a microSD slot, a micro USB 2.0 port, and a micro HDMI-out port, along with the power connection. On the left is a headset jack and physical buttons for volume and power. On the bottom edge is a docking port, and slots for the tabs on the docking hinge. The docking keyboard offers only one port, a single full-size USB 2.0 port. The Asus Transformer Book T100TA also has just one full-size USB on the keyboard, but it's a faster USB 3.0 port.

Inside, the Aspire Switch 10 boasts dual-band (2.4GHz and 5.0 GHz) 802.11n Wi-Fi, along with Bluetooth 4.0. The tablet also has 64GB of solid-state storage, which is on par with top competitors like the Asus T100TA and the Dell Venue 11 Pro, but only 44GB is free out of the box. This can easily be supplemented with a micro SD card—the slot will support up to 32GB cards—along with Acer's own cloud storage (AcerCloud).

You can free up some of that storage space the preinstalled programs that you don't or won't use. There are shopping links on the start screen from Amazon, Booking.com, and Ebay, and apps include Skype, Evernote, Netflix, and reading apps like Amazon Kindle, NextIssue, and Zinio. Included with the device is a free copy of Microsoft Office, which needs to be activated using an included activation code. Acer covers the Switch 10 with a one-year warranty.

Performance The Switch 10 is outfitted with a 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z3745 quad-core processor, with 2GB of low-powered DDR3 memory, similar to the CPU and RAM found in the Asus Book T100TA. As a result, performance was mostly on par with one another, while the Switch 10 had a slight edge. In PCMark 8 Work Conventional, the Switch 10 scored a respectable 1,576 points, and it finished Handbrake in just 7 minutes 3 seconds—that's not blazing speed by any stretch, but most Atom-based systems have difficulty even running the test. All told, it's enough that the Switch 10 offers Windows 8.1 without egregious limitations or lag, even if it's not particularly powerful.

You also get decent battery life: 7 hours 39 minutes on our battery rundown test. That's enough to take you through most of your work or school day, but it does fall short of competitors. The Asus Book T100TA lasted 11:20 on the same test, while the Dell Venue 11 Pro, with its secondary battery in the keyboard, lasted an impressive 18 hours when docked and 9:01 without the extra battery.

Conclusion With the Aspire Switch 10, Acer has introduced a fine detachable tablet, making it a safe purchase for anyone in the market for a portable Windows tablet without giving up the productive capability of a clamshell design. The Asus Transformer Book T100TA remains our top pick given its lower price, longer battery life, and slightly more impressive feature set, but the Acer Aspire Switch 10 comes in a close second.

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About the Author

Brian Westover is an Analyst for the Hardware Team, reviewing laptops, desktops, and storage devices.
As a child, Brian was frequently asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?" His answer alternated between Superman and Batman. This was cute when he was five, but worrisome at seventeen. Naturally, he is now a journalist, writing about tec... See Full Bio

Acer Aspire Switch 10

Acer Aspire Switch 10

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